Welcome to the Vestry Corner! The Vestry Corner is a new monthly feature of the Shepherd’s Voice to provide the congregation a window into the Vestry’s work on its behalf and a way for the Vestry to advance important topics of interest.

The Vestry kicked off 2018 with a retreat designed to welcome and “onboard” new members and prepare the Vestry to work as a team to do the work of the Church. Priorities for 2018 include refreshing the 2013 Our Journey Forward strategic plan to target the most relevant items for 2018/2019 and opening new channels of communication among the parish, Vestry, clergy and staff to keep us all update and engaged on important Church news and business.

Business items from the February Vestry meeting:

Junior Warden. Vestry elected Richard Lee to serve as Junior Warden for 2018.

Stitch. Dan Matthews reported that St. Luke’s was well represented at a meeting about the Stitch project , led by Central Atlanta Progress. The Stitch concept would develop parks and perhaps buildings over sections of the Downtown Connector to provide additional connectivity between Downtown and Midtown and encourage development of a new, vibrant corridor. Given our location and property, St. Luke’s is committed to the planning and preparation necessary to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Stitch.

Stewardship. Since the Annual Meeting, 2018 stewardship pledging has surpassed 2017 totals in number and dollars committed. As of March 15, we ave 425 pledges totalling $1,639,30. With less than 50 percent of households pledging, St. Luke’s needs to continue to encourage financial support through pledging from all members.

Budget. We are still finalizing 2017 financial results. The good news is that the budget deficit for 2017 looks to be between $50,000 and $60,000, a third of that reported at the Annual Meeting. The Vestry, staff and clergy are working on the 2018 budget, reducing projected expenses to match the 2018 pledges in order to achieve a balanced budget.

Children-Youth Education Position. Dan reported that the search committee has provided three excellent candidates. The position is expected to be filled shortly as the last stages of interviewing and selection are completed.

Vestry-led Working Groups. One working group of a small group of parishioners will refresh the 2013 strategic plan for the Church, drawing from the year-long exhaustive work completed then and extracting elements to be completed in 2018/2019. The other working group will develop job descriptions and grades for existing staff positions allowing the Church to better manage responsibilities and more quickly fill vacancies.

Leave a Reply.

​The Vestry Corner is a monthly feature, published first in the Shepherd's Voice newsletter, that provides the congregation a window into the Vestry’s work on its behalf and a way for the Vestry to advance important topics of interest.